Coronavirus Tamworth: Eddie and Barbara Whitham reflect on the year gone by since being stuck in the thick of the COVID crisis

It's almost been a year since the pair was stuck on a cruise ship in Japan at the start of the coronavirus boom, then subsequently shipped to a Darwin camp for quarantine before making their way back home to Tamworth.

The ordeal took a toll on them, with Ms Whitham admitting she received counselling over the phone in the NT to ease her worries.

But through it all they've remained positive and resilient and are already looking forward to their next cruise.

The Leader sat down in the local couple's bright blue home to hear what they've been up to since it all happened.

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Ms Whitham said it had been a "tough" year, and they had faced judgement from many locals.

"One year on it hasn't gone that fast, it's been challenging and the rules that have lingered has made it harder ... and have been cut off from relatives," she said.

"We've been challenged to keep doing what we could and support people, because we know the experience of being in quarantine how isolating it is."

She said people she knew were angry with them because they thought the couple had COVID-19.

"The Japanese tested us and we never did have it, but it's the fear that generates mistrust and fear of us," Ms Whitham said.

"The rumours went for months, 'oh you're the people that had the virus' because we're well known in Tamworth, but we said 'excuse me but we never had it'."

People are more at ease with the Whithams now, and Mr Whitham has been busy writing numerous novels; one of them about his experiences with lockdowns during his travels.

"Nine places I've been locked down - I was in Mexico with the swine flu in 2009, in Israel during the war, and locked out in Uzbekistan," he said.

"If you put your mind to it, you can get through anything.

"I finished 50 short stories, and I'm writing a novel, my life story, and this [lockdown] story."

They both thanked Princess Cruises for their ongoing support during the saga, and after they'd returned to the North West. They even provided a full refund of the cost of their cruise.

"The Princess crew gave us so many movies to watch and international newspapers and all that kind of support and the food was quite good, they handled it quite well," Ms Whitham said.

"After we came back [to Tamworth] Princess Cruises sent us a nice box with wine, and they looked after us with the Darwin airport.

"We would certainly go cruising again and on the list is Easter Island which [Eddie's] always wanted to go to."